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<h1>Tributes to paralysed suicide rugby star Dan James
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<h2>Tributes have been paid to a promising young rugby player who flew to a Swiss suicide clinic to take his own life.
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<p> By Ben Leach
<br /> Last Updated: 9:29PM BST 18 Oct 2008
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<img src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01011/dan-james-2_1011107f.jpg" alt="Dan James, a promising young rugby player who travelled to a suicide clinic in Switzerland after being paralysed from the chest down during a training accident." height="293" width="220" />
<div class="imageExtras" style="width: 220px;"> <span class="caption">Dan James was tipped for a career in professional rugby.</span> <span class="credit">Photo: Newsteam</span>
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<p>Dan James, a 23-year-old former England schoolboy international, was left paralysed from the chest down when a scrum collapsed on him during a training session with Nuneaton Rugby Football Club in March 2007.
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<p>Yesterday the club secretary of 13 years, Maggie Mander, spoke about the impact that the tragedy had had on the club.
</p>
<p>"I think it is possibly one of the worst things that has ever happened to our club and it is still very raw for a lot of us," she said. "It was such a terribly tragic accident and my heart goes out to his family.
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<p>"Dan was an amazing character and a typical student with long blond hair, always wearing his flip flops whatever the weather. He was always one of the first to get up on the coach after a game and get everyone singing."
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<p>Mr James' parents are being investigated by West Mercia Police after travelling with him to Switzerland.
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<p>They were not responding to callers yesterday at the family's £700,000 detached home in the village of Sinton Green, near Worcester where they live with daughters Georgina, 21 and Olivia, 18.
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<p>Dignity in Dying, an assisted suicide campaign group, said the 23-year-old, who died last month, was the youngest person they were aware of to have committed assisted suicide abroad.
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<p>The charity said the case demonstrates the failures of the law on assisted suicide in the UK.
</p>
<p>Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer who intends - if life becomes unbearable because of her illness - to travel abroad to a clinic in Switzerland or Belgium where people can end their lives by lethal injection, has recently called for clarification on the legal repercussions for her husband, Omar Puente, if he helps her journey abroad to die.
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<p>Ms Purdy said: "My heart bleeds for the family. I think it's really horrendous and I think they need as much support as he did when he was alive. No parents want to bury their children and while they're grieving for their son they are being questioned by police. It's outrageous.
</p>
<p>"I've heard lots of criticism saying he wasn't terminally ill but how can we criticise the Swiss law when we don't have the law in this country? We're too cowardly to discuss the question of the law here, so people use the Swiss law because they're the only people who allow us to use it and then we criticise them. If we had the legal system when people could talk to the legal and medical profession, where we can have an open debate about this, at least people would have the choice."
</p>
<p>Bob Allison, assistant headteacher at Mr James' former school, Chantry High School, in Martley, also paid tribute yesterday, calling him an "inspiration".
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<p>"My lasting memory of Daniel was what a cracking sense of humour he had and what a determined character he showed in everything he did," he said. "At the school we are determined to use Daniel's memory as an example and inspiration for years to come."
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<h1>Tributes to paralysed suicide rugby star Dan James
</h1>
<h2>Tributes have been paid to a promising young rugby player who flew to a Swiss suicide clinic to take his own life.
</h2>
</div>
<div class="oneHalf gutter">
<div class="headerOne">
</div>
<div class="story">
<div class="byline">
<p> By Ben Leach
<br /> Last Updated: 9:29PM BST 18 Oct 2008
</p>
</div>
<div class="slideshow ssPortrait">
<div style="display: block;" class="ssImg">
<img src="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01011/dan-james-2_1011107f.jpg" alt="Dan James, a promising young rugby player who travelled to a suicide clinic in Switzerland after being paralysed from the chest down during a training accident." height="293" width="220" />
<div class="imageExtras" style="width: 220px;"> <span class="caption">Dan James was tipped for a career in professional rugby.</span> <span class="credit">Photo: Newsteam</span>
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<p>Dan James, a 23-year-old former England schoolboy international, was left paralysed from the chest down when a scrum collapsed on him during a training session with Nuneaton Rugby Football Club in March 2007.
</p>
<p>Yesterday the club secretary of 13 years, Maggie Mander, spoke about the impact that the tragedy had had on the club.
</p>
<p>"I think it is possibly one of the worst things that has ever happened to our club and it is still very raw for a lot of us," she said. "It was such a terribly tragic accident and my heart goes out to his family.
</p>
<p>"Dan was an amazing character and a typical student with long blond hair, always wearing his flip flops whatever the weather. He was always one of the first to get up on the coach after a game and get everyone singing."
</p>
<p>Mr James' parents are being investigated by West Mercia Police after travelling with him to Switzerland.
</p>
<p>They were not responding to callers yesterday at the family's £700,000 detached home in the village of Sinton Green, near Worcester where they live with daughters Georgina, 21 and Olivia, 18.
</p>
<p>Dignity in Dying, an assisted suicide campaign group, said the 23-year-old, who died last month, was the youngest person they were aware of to have committed assisted suicide abroad.
</p>
<p>The charity said the case demonstrates the failures of the law on assisted suicide in the UK.
</p>
<p>Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferer who intends - if life becomes unbearable because of her illness - to travel abroad to a clinic in Switzerland or Belgium where people can end their lives by lethal injection, has recently called for clarification on the legal repercussions for her husband, Omar Puente, if he helps her journey abroad to die.
</p>
<p>Ms Purdy said: "My heart bleeds for the family. I think it's really horrendous and I think they need as much support as he did when he was alive. No parents want to bury their children and while they're grieving for their son they are being questioned by police. It's outrageous.
</p>
<p>"I've heard lots of criticism saying he wasn't terminally ill but how can we criticise the Swiss law when we don't have the law in this country? We're too cowardly to discuss the question of the law here, so people use the Swiss law because they're the only people who allow us to use it and then we criticise them. If we had the legal system when people could talk to the legal and medical profession, where we can have an open debate about this, at least people would have the choice."
</p>
<p>Bob Allison, assistant headteacher at Mr James' former school, Chantry High School, in Martley, also paid tribute yesterday, calling him an "inspiration".
</p>
<p>"My lasting memory of Daniel was what a cracking sense of humour he had and what a determined character he showed in everything he did," he said. "At the school we are determined to use Daniel's memory as an example and inspiration for years to come."
</p>
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